Corix Utilities has extended its partnership with Silver Spring Networks as a part of the Oklahoma Gas & Electric (OG&E) SmartHours demand response (DR) program, calling for Corix to install an additional 70,000 programmable thermostats across a 30,000 square-mile service territory in Oklahoma.

To date, OG&E has enrolled over 40,000 users in the program, and these customers are seeing an average savings of $191 each. The project extension is intended to support OG&E’s overall goal of enrolling 120,000 customers in total. This amount of participation should bring a savings of 210 MW, which would eliminate the need to add additional incremental capacity until 2020.

"We have already completed Phase 1, where our team installed over 31,000 DR devices and nearly 825,000 smart meters. We expect our team to ramp up our efforts in Phase 2 and install an additional 70,000 PCTs and ancillary energy efficiency services throughout Oklahoma," says Jeff Van Ess, vice president of utility services for Corix Utilities.

OG&E's project started in February 2010 and is now scheduled for completion at the end of 2014.

Months after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released its Clean Power Plan, which will create new regulations for existing power plants, the agency says it has received loads of feedback to consider.